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Fly Tying

JSzymczyk

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Everything posted by JSzymczyk

  1. there is some intangible difference between using the hourglass/dumbell lead eyes vs lead wire wraps... having all the mass concentrated in the small package, along with being able to place the mass exactly where on the shank you want it- to get different "swimming" actions from the flies... I don't know for sure. All I know is I like them and I think they're too expensive. And I agree, the hourglass shape are superior to the dumbell, but I've only ever had the opportunity to buy a few packs of the hourglass eyes. I know it would be a real PITA to sit around and mold 1/80 ounce lead eyes a few at a time....
  2. I looked at the little card that comes in each bag of eyes, and there is no manufacturer or distributor data on it... It's the same printed card in each bag of eyes I've got from Cabelas, Bass Pro, NetCraft, and other places. This is definately a conspiracy to price gouge consumers!!! Dick Cheney, George W, and the rest of the Evil New World Order must own the molds, and if they were able to be purchased in bulk, it would definately increase global warming! :yahoo: I don't know much about it, but I bet it's not easy to produce them, but I could be way off base. For such a small piece of lead, I ASSume it needs to be forced into the mold under pressure, not gravity- making the machinery involved much more expensive ???? Anyone with mold-making or related experience care to comment? Anyhow, if anyone does find a source, perhaps we could go together on a group purchase? I'd like to get my hands on a bunch of them before the sale of lead is banned across the board in a few years.
  3. here are some clouser-style minnows which have been productive for me. The yellow-white one is a copy of a yellow-white one a largemouth is wearing as a lip ring now, the other two have accounted for several fish each. These are not dressed as skimpy as most folks say they should be, but they work- and they are visible in bailey's as well as gin. These are a few examples of what works for me.
  4. I've looked a little bit, with no luck. there's got to be a place where there are bags of a thousand, or where they are measured by the pound. I'd buy a lifetime supply of xsmall, small, and medium if I could... I don't imagine any fly shop owners or distributors would want to divulge the secret stash- I think the molds for lead eyes are kept at Area 51 and only used to produce during months with 5 Sundays.
  5. there is a huge range of hair on any given deer hide. it all depends on what you're wanting to tie, and of course where and when the deer was killed. Good northern whitetails killed in winter will have bunches of nice long coarse hollow hair for bass bugs etc. A florida whitetail killed in early archery season will have mostly hair that is next to impossible to flair and spin. Look at Chris Helm's website, I think he talks about it all, and seems to know more about deer hair than anyone. I think it's www.whitetailflytying.com. I've been really disappointed lately with the pieces of deer hair I've bought lately for bass bugs. BassPro and Cabelas both sent me deer hair that was crap for spinning. Next hair I have to mail order will be from Helm. edit: here, check this link- http://globalflyfisher.com/staff/helm/selecting/chart.html it has a chart of what kind of hair is usually found where on the deer hide. neat.
  6. nope, tie on! I have seen and heard many fly fishing snobs sneer at lead-eye minnows (clousers) as "just jigs." That's when I usually tie on a #2 hook and rig it with a rubber lizard, and squirt some scent formula on it. I don't know about those guys, but I'm here to enjoy the day, and it's always more enjoyable with a fish on the end of the line. I've found I can cast heavier clouser minnows and bunny leeches fairly well with our ultralight spinning outfits and 4lb test- about as well as unweighted 4" plastic worms! I enjoy fly tackle more than any other type, and catching fish with flies or jigs or whatever we make ourselves adds to the enjoyment. I've caught lots of fish on woolly buggers tied on leadhead jigs, fished with spinning tackle. My son is a bit too young and uncoordinated to fly cast, but he's getting good with the UL spinning tackle and light "lures"... he's caught LMB and crappies on leadeye "flies" already this year. Just about any larger subsurface style pattern could be adapted to jigheads... in fact I wonder if bucktail "streamer" flies or bucktail jigs came first?
  7. "sparseness" of clousers: the fly pictured IS sparsely dressed for normal conditions in my area.... I think there is certainly a relation between water clarity / visibility and the most effective dressing. In murky water or low light (or both), I think there should be some substance to the fly. As an impressionistic pattern, the fish still must be able to sense the presence of the fly... in most places I've fished, a bucktail dressed with eleven strands of hair would be useless. If the water has good visibility, then perhaps it could be dressed down. It's all a matter of finding what works and having confidence in it. Several places I've fished recently have dingy water... a white/chartreuse clouser dressed "full" disappear a foot below the surface... but I've caught fish with them.
  8. eyes look just like a crappie's eyes! nice!
  9. See if your camera has a macro function, which lets it focus up close. Most digital cams have it- it is normally designated by a little tulip-looking flower symbol. a lot of folks are unaware of it and disappointed they can't focus on closeups.
  10. for bucktails I hit the finished head with zap-a-gap thin formula usually... if using light colored thread it makes the thread translucent allowing the colors of the bucktail to show through, very nice if using different colored layers of bucktail. Let it dry (overnight is best) and then hit it with a couple coats of sally-hard-as-nails clear. I put a drop of zap-a-gap on the final windings of deer hair bugs, works well. For finishing deer hair bugs, I paint the bottom of the finished bug with very thin flexament, which soaks in and saturates the thread under the hair. Everything else I usually just use hard-as-nails clear and rely on thread color. My flies have improved since i began using zap-a-gap. I wonder if Sally Hansen company knows how many fly tiers use their stuff?
  11. I gotta disagree. I can lay the wraps neatly with my fingers. Again though, I'm not tying microscopic flies. This thread is kind of like asking, which is better, warmwater or coldwater flyfishing, and why? Brings up a lot of great points of view, but there is no answer.
  12. they'll do the deed. There's a thread about coneheads from a few days ago, containing some suggestions for "hiding" the thread wraps behind the cone. In the end, I doubt if the fish care whether they can see the thread or not. Those two patterns in various colors will catch any fish that swims, I think. I wouldn't leave home without some of each.
  13. sweet... don't you love it when they not only poke you with a sharp stick, they gotta twist it when it's in?
  14. Hand finish, I have not owned a whip finish tool for well over 20 years. I don't normally tie anything smaller than about a 14. Maybe if I tied real small stuff it would matter, I don't know. I guarantee it's possible to tie a whip finish every bit as tight with fingers as with a tool, right up to the breaking point of the thread. As for roughing or fraying the thread, the head gets 2 or more coats of head cement or glue anyhow, so it doesn't matter. If tying presentation grade salmon flies or something, perhaps it would make a difference. Those usually get about a hundred coats of finish anyhow, so I don't think it would matter. It's all down to personal preference in the end. I do not think one method could be BETTER than another.
  15. thanks for the input folks- I like the c-clamp vises because my tying bench also serves as my handloading bench, general workbench, and insect collecting/curation bench. I built a portable tying "desk" with a riser for c-clamp (my old one) and I like the c-clamp I guess because I've always used one and like to be able to adjust the height when needed. How much advantage do you find a rotary to be when tying woolly buggers and w. worms for example? seems as if it might come in handy.
  16. I just wait until my wife calls me on the cel phone, and directs me to stop and pick up her - um, well, feminine hygiene supplies - which happens every once in a while, because she is apparently unable to figure out when she'll be needing them (she's only been dealing with it for 30-some years...) that's the perfect time to pick up the panty-hose and nail polish. Anyone who sees immediately knows you're already embarassed, so you might as well just hold your head up and get on with it.... :hyst:
  17. here are a couple versions of my son's "Bruise Fly"- he wanted some blue chenille to make a blue woolly worm... I heaved a couple times and thought "how hideous will that be?" Turns out he's a pretty smart kid. This color combo works well and for some reason, sometimes, the blue triggers a strike when other colors won't.
  18. I've read and reread all the vise posts and it's like asking a bunch of motorcyclists "what's the best oil to use?" I'm needing to upgrade from a twenty-something year old master vise from Reed Tackle... which has served me extremely well producing several thousand flies. I'm narrowed down to just about choosing a Peak c-clamp vise but don't have the opportunity to try one out before purchasing, at least not anywhere within a couple hours drive (that I know of). I tie mostly streamers, bucktails (clousers minnows too), buggers, deer hair bugs, general warmwater stuff, normally size 12 up to about 1/0 mostly. Very very infrequently down to 18 or so. I don't know yet if the rotary function will be any advantage to me, as I've never used a rotary vise. Does the Peak design allow sufficient room at the rear of the fly for long tails, say on 4 and 5 inch streamers, without damaging the materials? I can't see how it would interfere with the materials any more than flipping a large clouser upside down in my stationary vise, but I could be missing something. Money is an issue, and the $150 or so including shipping will cause the wife to have a spell for a while, but a man must have his priorities. thoughts from any Peak users who tie similar flies would be most helpful- thanks!
  19. good deal, I may place my next order for materials with them. I'm thinking I NEED a new vise.... my Reed Tackle "master" vise has accounted for thousands of flies and has seen better days... My Financial Manager (wife) doesn't see it that way though.
  20. I put a base coat of white paint first. then I use a stolen (ok, borrowed, from my wife) bottle of some kind of metallic red/pink fingernail polish for the main color, black enamel for the pupil. I sure miss that color on my wife's fingernails, but a man must have priorities. :headbang:
  21. I went to Lowe's for a replacement bulb, and they had the name-brand Ott replacement lamps on the shelf over a sticker that said "13w fluorescent replacement lamp" - for $5 - I grabbed two, when they rung up for near $15 each I had them call the lighting dept. guy, and I got them for $5 each. Good deal for me, but the lighting guy was PO'd at whoever stocked the shelf. I've probably spent $10K there since I bought my house, so I'm not feeling too bad about it.
  22. Pray. don't EVER get frustrated and raise your voice to her during tying. tell her the fly she just tied is the most wonderful, beautiful, fish-catchingest thing you've ever seen... even if it's the butt-ugliest creation ever to to be spawned from a vise. don't ask me how I know these things....
  23. My advise is to go with chenille for your woolly bugger bodies. I've always found slight color or texture variations are irrelevant for bugger bodies, and dubbing bodies have no advantage for buggers. Just my opinion.
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